Saturday, October 25, 2008

Pumpkin Dreams

My husband and I got in a car wreck about a month ago. Our doctor prescribed us an anti-inflammatory drug to keep the swelling down. It has helped, but I've noticed when I take it at night right before bed, I have the strangest dreams.

The other night, I dreamt of pumpkin all night long. Even when I woke up to go to the bathroom and went back to bed, the vivid dreams continued. They were filled with pumpkin pie, pumpkin tarts, pumpkin cake, pumpkin bread etc. Needless to say, I woke up craving pumpkin.

I found this recipe in Everyday Food several months ago. I was attracted to it because it had a thick purely white layer of buttery cream cheese frosting on top. I bookmarked it but never made it. Many months had passed but after the dreams I had, I no longer had an excuse, it had to be made.

Last fall I made pumpkin bread and a Cinderella pumpkin cake. Both very good, but in different ways. I also spoke about my favorite pumpkin bread- it's rich and spicy, and dense and very pumpkin-y. The cake recipe I made only has one cup of pumpkin in it, this 9x9 cake has an entire can, so the flavor is not masked, it really stands out. It was so darn good. This would also be awesome to make into a loaf without the frosting. I can't wait to make it again.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin-pie spice. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, butter, and pumpkin puree until combined. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, and mix gently until smooth.

Turn batter into prepared pan, and smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake 10 minutes in pan, then turn out of pan, and cool completely, right side up, on a rack.

Make Honey Frosting: In a medium bowl, whisk 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cream cheese, and honey until smooth. Spread top of cooled cake with Honey Frosting. Cut cake into squares to serve.

Hennifer- I have the Joy Of Cooking cookbook. Were they just regular plain pumpkin muffins or did they have stuff in them? I'll look and see what I can come up with. Also, I ususally have Pumpkin Pie Spice, but I ran out, so I just added the individual spices. But I didn't have ginger (I'm not a fan) so I left it out and it was still really tasty. Don't make a store run if you don't have to.

you are an evil woman! I try to avoid looking at your site too often cause this baby must like sweets evn more than me. I eat a whole danish myself every weekend, so bad! I am going to make this pumkin cake, I love pumpkin mmmm. I love your evil food...

OH Happiness! - I'm so excited to discover this recipe on your blog! What time of year were you having those "pumpkin" dreams? A beautiful creation to come out of those dreams....but sorry to hear that you and your hubby went through that accident to steer you towards making this lovely cake.

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Welcome To My Blog

My name is Monica and I'm a stay at home mom living in central Texas. I like to cook, but baking is my passion. I am an (obsessive) collector of cake stands, cookbooks and bakeware. I make lots of yummy treats and often share my sweet creations with friends, family and anyone else who is willing to be my guinea pig. I have lots of recipes in the archives so I hope you'll stick around for awhile!

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